Bloody Valentine
Bloody Valentine (Quick Reads) - James Patterson 5/5
James Patterson is a guy that people love to hate and for good reason. He doesn't write his own books anymore and there's a simplicity that runs through all of them. Its that simplicity that has made him stupid rich. Soccer moms and people that are aren't readers will actually read this guys stuff because it's not going to demand a lot of thought. You can read a Patterson book and feel as if you're a reader even if you aren't. This is the measuring stick of popular, cookie cutter fiction. The stay at home moms, the grandmas, and the soccer moms are the audience you want if you want to be a best selling author. This is Patterson's fan base and as a writer I almost want to sell out and churn out some simple fiction just so I can be stupid popular and rich.
Bloody Valentine isn't a bad novel at all. It's a novel you can read in about an hour and feel as if you've accomplished something. For a Patterson novel this is quite a good little mystery that gives you some rather weak characters and a murder mystery that evolves slowly. Due to its short length he doesn't waste a whole lot of time and gets right to the murder, and the subsequent investigation. This is a Patterson that readers will remember from the early Alex Cross novels. Simple story telling with an engaging plot that keeps the pages moving. At this point James knows what his readers want so he doesn't waste a lot of time here in loading the book down with stuff that will bore his core audience.
What I loved about this was that it played out like a Lifetime movie, and the killer cut out a pregnant ladies heart and sends it to her husband! How cool is that?? This is one of those books that just fires on all cylinders and gives you the meat and no potatoes. At this point Patterson knows how to piss off his fans and it seems as if Bloody Valentine did just that. Whether it was a failed experiment or not this is a Patterson novel that doesn't waste a lot of time and shows that when Patterson wants to, he can write a short, yet engaging story. If you've never read Patterson before this is a nice place to start. It's good in its simplicity and is a great light piece of fiction. Nothing mind blowing or original here, but so what. It was still a blast to read.
James Patterson is a guy that people love to hate and for good reason. He doesn't write his own books anymore and there's a simplicity that runs through all of them. Its that simplicity that has made him stupid rich. Soccer moms and people that are aren't readers will actually read this guys stuff because it's not going to demand a lot of thought. You can read a Patterson book and feel as if you're a reader even if you aren't. This is the measuring stick of popular, cookie cutter fiction. The stay at home moms, the grandmas, and the soccer moms are the audience you want if you want to be a best selling author. This is Patterson's fan base and as a writer I almost want to sell out and churn out some simple fiction just so I can be stupid popular and rich.
Bloody Valentine isn't a bad novel at all. It's a novel you can read in about an hour and feel as if you've accomplished something. For a Patterson novel this is quite a good little mystery that gives you some rather weak characters and a murder mystery that evolves slowly. Due to its short length he doesn't waste a whole lot of time and gets right to the murder, and the subsequent investigation. This is a Patterson that readers will remember from the early Alex Cross novels. Simple story telling with an engaging plot that keeps the pages moving. At this point James knows what his readers want so he doesn't waste a lot of time here in loading the book down with stuff that will bore his core audience.
What I loved about this was that it played out like a Lifetime movie, and the killer cut out a pregnant ladies heart and sends it to her husband! How cool is that?? This is one of those books that just fires on all cylinders and gives you the meat and no potatoes. At this point Patterson knows how to piss off his fans and it seems as if Bloody Valentine did just that. Whether it was a failed experiment or not this is a Patterson novel that doesn't waste a lot of time and shows that when Patterson wants to, he can write a short, yet engaging story. If you've never read Patterson before this is a nice place to start. It's good in its simplicity and is a great light piece of fiction. Nothing mind blowing or original here, but so what. It was still a blast to read.
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